By your early 50s, your superannuation balance should turn from a savings pot for the future into a financial deadline.

Your balance has already had a few decades to grow, but the next 10 to 15 years are even more important. During this period you can still make meaningful changes to your superannuation balance, investment strategy and retirement plans.

At age 53, it’s important to know how much you have in your super, and if you’re on track to fund the retirement lifestyle you want when the time comes.

Let’s break it down.

How much does it cost to retire?

According to data from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), there are two main retirement lifestyle brackets: modest and comfortable.

A modest retirement is one that allows you to meet essential living costs slightly above the Age Pension payment. It assumes you’ll have enough money to fund basic costs like bottom-tier health insurance, utilities and grocery expenses. It leaves a little room for infrequent, low-cost leisure activities and perhaps the occasional budget meal out. But it doesn’t account for funds for travel, and it leaves only a very limited discretionary budget. 

ASFA estimates that a modest retirement will cost approximately $36,434 per year for singles and around $52,473 for a couple combined. These figures assume you own your home outright (so additional mortgage or rental costs will be on top) and that you’ll receive a part Age Pension. 

To fund a modest retirement, singles will need around $110,000 in superannuation, and couples around $120,000.

It’s achievable for most, but what many strive for is a comfortable retirement lifestyle.

ASFA defines a comfortable retirement as one which allows Australians to maintain a good standard of living well above and beyond the Age Pension. It covers expenses like top-tier private health insurance, a reasonable car, and regular leisure activities. It also includes money for home repairs and renovations, an occasional meal out, and maybe even an occasional holiday.

The data shows that a comfortable retirement is estimated to cost around $55,923 per year for singles and $78,566 for couples. Again, it assumes you’ll receive a part Age Pension and that you own your home in full. In order to fund this, single Australians will need around $630,000 in their superannuation at retirement, and couples will need around $730,000.

Ok, so at age 53, how much superannuation should I have to be considered ‘on track’?

I’ve crunched the numbers using ASFA’s online super detective tool and, at age 53, Australians should aim to have a superannuation balance of around $364,000 to be on track for a comfortable retirement. 

How does this compare to your own balance?

Can I boost my balance before it’s too late?

At age 53, you’ve still got at least seven more years before you can access your superannuation (assuming you’ve stopped working), or another 12 years if you want to access it and still earn some money on the side.

That’s plenty of time for your balance to catch up if it’s falling behind.

First, check that your fund is performing well and that your risk profile suits your needs. There is no point in adding extra funds to a superfund that is underperforming major indices like the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

Once you’ve verified that, you’ll need to start adding additional funds yourself. Don’t rely solely on the compulsory minimum employer superannuation contribution to do the heavy lifting for you.

Take advantage of additional concessional or non-concessional contributions. You can do this through salary sacrifice or by making after-tax payments (as long as they’re within your annual limits).

If you don’t have enough surplus cash to add to your superannuation yourself, can your partner do it for you? Couples can boost their combined super savings if the higher-income earner contributes after-tax funds to the lower-income earner’s account. 

Also make sure you’ve checked for lost super and consolidated your super funds. Every cent counts.

The post How much should I have in my superannuation by age 53? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

You would think record gold prices would be doing wonders for Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares.

Instead, the gold miner has gone backwards.

Northern Star finished Thursday down 1.40% at $22.54, leaving the share price around 16% lower in 2026 and well below its recent highs.

That’s not really what investors would expect with gold trading at such strong levels.

But there could be a bit more going on here than just the gold price.

US activist investor Elliott Investment Management has been building its position in Northern Star, and it clearly sees room for improvement.

I think that makes the next few months worth watching closely.

Elliott wants to see some changes

The US activist investor has been pushing Northern Star to strengthen its board and take a look at how the business is run.

Last month, Elliott said:

During a period of record gold prices, a company with assets of this calibre should be among its sector’s strongest performers.

It also argued that Northern Star’s shareholder returns had lagged peers because of execution and governance failures.

Northern Star has pushed back. Outgoing chairman Michael Chaney said Elliott had made demands “to which no responsible board would agree”.

With that said, the boardroom battle could become more interesting over the next 2 months.

Director nominations close on 16 September, while the annual general meeting (AGM) is scheduled for 18 November.

A new CEO is coming too

There’s also a fair bit happening inside Northern Star itself.

Suresh Vadnagra is due to take over as chief executive on 5 October following Stuart Tonkin’s departure last month.

That means the company will soon have a new CEO, a new chairman and a major activist investor demanding better results.

I think that puts plenty of pressure on the new leadership team to show investors what it can do differently.

And there is clearly room for the share price to recover.

Northern Star is still up around 8% over the past year, but the shares remain well below the levels they reached in March.

Could Northern Star shares recover?

Brokers aren’t exactly on the same page when it comes to Northern Star.

TipRanks shows an average 12-month price target of $23.40, which is only around 4% above Thursday’s closing price.

But a few analysts see a lot more upside.

UBS recently upgraded Northern Star to buy and lifted its price target to $29.40, while Jefferies has a $27 target and Morgans is at $25.

If UBS is right, Northern Star shares could climb around 30% from here.

Personally, I wouldn’t buy the stock just because Elliott has built a huge position.

The new team will need to improve execution and get shareholders back onside before I’d take another look.

The post Down 16%, could this $2 billion activist bet wake up Northern Star shares? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Investors on the hunt for outsized returns might want to check out the ASX shares in this article.

That’s because the team at Morgans believes they could rise by 48% to 90% over the next 12 months. 

Here’s what the broker is recommending:

Aroa Biosurgery Ltd (ASX: ARX)

Morgans is feeling even more positive about this ASX share following the release of interim results for the MASTRR Registry.

In response, the broker has retained its buy rating on the medical device company’s shares with a 79 cents price target. This implies potential upside of approximately 48% for investors over the next 12 months. It commented:

ARX has reported positive interim results from the MASTRR Registry showing low infection rates which we expect will support greater surgeon adoption. We sit towards the upper end of the FY27 guidance which has revenue forecast to grow at 18% (mid-point). We have made no changes to forecasts or target price. The share price continues to languish despite operational and clinical progress; with 45% upside to our target price, we think ARX is undervalued. Buy.

EchoIQ Ltd (ASX: EIQ)

This medical device company’s shares have crashed deep into the red this week following a disappointing US FDA update.

While many investors have decided to hit the sell button, Morgans thinks they should be sticking with the company. 

As a result, it has retained its buy rating with a reduced price target of $1.10. This implies potential upside of approximately 95% for investors. It said:

EIQ has received a Not Substantially Equivalent (NSE) determination on its initial EchoSolv HF 510(k), despite an extensively validated dataset generated in line with FDA guidance. The device cannot be marketed under this application as submitted, pushing back the biggest near-term catalyst and revenue driver. Decision is a setback, but the timing points to a fixable problem. The determination landed day 264 of the FDA’s 270-day clock, leaving the agency no scope to seek further information and forcing a decision on what it had. Management confirms a single outstanding statistical point, not a safety or clinical issue, and says the letter invites resubmission. 

We read this as a file closed on expiry rather than a technology rejected, and the 510(k) route stays open. In any case, the regulatory and timing risks have increased, reflected in a valuation cut to A$1.10. Warrants the negative market reaction but ultimately view the validity of the tool as intact, this reads as a setback in how the data was presented and assessed, not a failure of the underlying technology itself.

The post Morgans says these ASX shares could return 48% to 95% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.